Standing Tall or Wrestling in the Mud?

Confronting Trumpism in modern politics

Donald Trump, the overfed, overwatched, overpraised, overmedicated former President, recently spoke at the NRA convention and made a comment about potentially serving a third term. "You know, FDR—16 years, almost 16 years. He was four-term. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three term or two term?” he asked the crowd during the event on Saturday. "Are we three term or two term if we win?" he added.

In fairness, he went on to say that he will only serve four years. But this brings up an oft-repeated concern that he will never leave office if re-elected. Much of this talk from the right is for one simple reason: to troll. In fact, the GOP has become essentially a trolling party, taking the opposite position on every major issue from the Democrats, saying the most cruel things to get attention, and abandoning real policy platforms to simply reaffirm Trump's need for victory (and ego maintenance).

Donald Trump will leave office if he is elected, and with his health and mental decline, I would be surprised if he serves out his full term. Despite his loud mouth, he is, after all, a human, and a quite weak one at that.

With the full understanding that these comments aim to inflame the anti-Trump coalition and stir the animal instincts of the right, how best should we respond? In a time where the political tone is set by food fights in Congress and attacks on “fake eyelashes,” should we stand tall and rise above, or wrestle in the mud?

I’m going to make the case that actually, it’s both. On the one hand, it’s important for this “uneasy coalition of the sane” to model what true and righteous politics looks like. Serious debates over serious issues, mature and reasoned arguments placed in the public sphere for discussion and resolution, are something America sorely needs. Our younger generations have never seen politics this way, and I worry that it’s an art form as ancient as the Age of Enlightenment. Sanity will not win by mimicking insanity.

At the same time, there are a couple areas we do need to get, ahem, a little in the mud. First off, a caveat: pointing out issue differences and arguing them is not mud; it’s politics. Where should we be willing to roll with the pigs? Calling out Trump’s weakness is one major area. When we discuss his, um, odor, or his lack of control over bodily functions, it seems quite immature, and I suppose it is. But it serves an important point. His followers see him as a big, larger-than-life, almost non-human, godlike figure. Basic human failings are not part of his aura, which partially explains why his moral failings are not seen as failings at all but instead are simply attributes similar to King David, who also had an affair. (Of course, in the Bible, the crux of the King David story was one of repentance, an oft-forgotten part of the story by our friends in MAGA.)

You’ll notice the visceral reaction by Trump or his people to these attacks. Usually, you would expect a normal person to roll their eyes and do the Midwest “anyways…” They know, maybe not intellectually but instinctually, that this will have an impact. And they don’t like it.

Another key area where mud is called for, and arguably it may not really be muddy, is that we need to continually call out his mental and social weakness. Let’s face it, the party that used to pride itself on “bootstraps” and challenging the “victim mindset” has itself become those things. They repeatedly victimize themselves whether it’s the deep state, the UN, corporations, or the Democrats. In the Republican mindset, they are helpless victims who are just trying to fight for their fair share. I understand and sympathize with the base who feels this way, but they feel this way because their leaders have decided to abuse their trust to garner their votes and power.

When we point out that Trump, the most powerful man in the world for four years, somehow couldn’t defeat the “dark plot to undermine him” or, for that matter, the “Alzheimer’s-riddled Biden,” then what does that say about Trump himself? How is it that after acquiring wealth, fame, and power, he still cannot seem to rest easy? Everyone is after him, and he’s incapable of doing anything at all? The reality is he is the weakest, whiniest, smallest, victim-est man to ever live. They hate when you say that. They hate it for a reason.

Donald Trump will not be President for a third term. He was barely capable of surviving one term. He magically possesses all the worst traits a man can have, and he’s the least intimidating President ever. I have been in the Oval Office with him; he doesn’t have the presence that other Presidents have had. How could he? Other men have inspired people to better places; this guy just whines and complains all day long.

As we go forward, don’t ignore the important debates ahead. Let’s also not shy away from calling Trump what he really is: emotionally, physically, and mentally weak. A professional victim who, against all odds, manages to still whine and fail despite all his surface successes. He’s a man to pity, not follow, and a stain on this great nation.